Folk veteran Catie Curtis to perform in Franklin

Thursday

May 4, 2017 at 4:00 PMMay 4, 2017 at 5:32 PM

They'll appear May 6 at the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse.

By Susan McDonaldProvidence Journal Correspondent

While there may be eras that seem more accommodating for folk music, those who play it know there will always be a need to express one’s dismay at society’s choices and hope for the future, and there will always be equally fervent voices to carry the mantle of social revolt and kindness forward.

Catie Curtis is a Boston-area folk music veteran and Brown University graduate who feels it is time to step aside from the field, focus on a different calling, and “pass the torch” to younger musicians. As part of her transition, she has scheduled several live appearances with Minnesota-based Rachael Kilgour, a voice that is newer to the genre.

Curtis, who met Kilgour at a music camp when she was a staff wife and Kilgour a camper, recently produced Kilgour’s album “Rabbit in the Road.” The piece marks Kilgour’s return to the role of working musician after dropping out of the industry to marry and help raise a stepchild. When the marriage ended in divorce — which also ended her role as a parent — she turned to her writing.

“The songs were, very literally, a form of therapy for me as I processed the ending of my marriage,” she says. “I am not one to cater to an audience when I write, but I would say that this collection of work went a step further — I wrote what I needed and nothing else. I wrote to find clarity and closure. It was the next step of sharing the songs that taught me that such vulnerability and acceptance of myself can give a lot to listeners.”

Curtis, who would later go through her own divorce, saw the pain in her friend’s life and wanted to help.

“It gave her a lot of depth to go through these losses — she has a lot of life experience now and her songs reflect that,” Curtis says.

Kilgour’s earlier folk music — a self-titled album in 2008, “Will You Marry Me?” in 2011 and “Whistleblower’s Manifesto” in 2013 — were much more politically driven, focusing on topics Curtis explains “are bigger than us.” While she says it was unusual for her friend to be so intimate with her lyrics, Kilgour says it is part of a personal evolution.

“I am realizing the more I share this work that it is political,” she notes. “Talking openly about unpleasant emotions like anger and grief and insecurity is an act of defiance. The album, for me, is about inner moral conflict — rage versus empathy, a longing for justice versus a longing for forgiveness. I think that conversation is so relevant to today's political climate. I hope I will continue to evolve as a writer and find new ways of examining the world around me.”

Winner of the 2015 international NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition, Kilgour is working on pieces she will record this summer.

“As usual, the songs reflect where I'm at: hopeful, studying partnership and the lure of romanticism, looking for purpose in work and connection and a slow life, examining societal constructs, politics, and how they shape us,” she says.

Curtis, who has toured with Lilith Fair, adds new music chronicling her own transition in life as “a 50-year-old with kids” to the series of joint shows. Her 14th album, “While We’re Here,” was released in January and focuses on change and “making different choices as we get older.

“I feel like people see their own lives in my songs,” she muses. “Some bring humor, most common humanity. These are songs people gravitate to — about struggles, losses, songs celebrating my dad.”

That, Kilgour and Curtis agree, is the heart of folk music — songs about real people at their best and their worst moments. And, ultimately, they are songs that “belong to the people,” Kilgour clarifies. While the songs have changed slightly through the years — a shift starting in the mid 1980s leaned more toward confessional, first-person narratives, for example — the genre is essentially the same.

“They were songs shared by word of mouth, through generations, often with morals woven in. The songs I learned as a kid were often political, a rally cry for labor rights, civil rights, women's rights, the antiwar movement, etc.,” Kilgour says. “I think there has been a commitment to social justice throughout, depending on the artist. These days I see a shift again — toward new songs, new styles, new labels (like indie folk) and, most heartening, a new commitment to address sociopolitical issues.”

It was as a teen that Kilgour discovered Curtis’ music as she sought female songwriters offering pieces about self-growth and interpersonal connections. To carry on Curtis’ work is bittersweet.

“I feel so honored to have a friendship with Catie and artists like her who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences,” Kilgour says simply. “I like the idea that we have the opportunity to reinvent ourselves again and again in this life. I think, living in a capitalist society, we are often pressured to find our one true strength and profit off of it until retirement. In reality, we are all pretty complex creatures, aren't we?

“I am grateful to see my friends and mentors willing to explore all of the options and change directions — it gives me permission to do the same in my life. For now, I am writing songs and sharing them with others, and I will as long as it gives me purpose. Catie has given and certainly will continue to give so much to so many people through her music. I sure hope I can do the same.”

— Susan McDonald is a regular contributor to our sister newspaper in Rhode Island, The Providence Journal. She can be reached at Sewsoo1@verizon.net.

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